Current:Home > MyBenjamin Ashford|Texas Rangers beat Arizona Diamondbacks to claim their first World Series -ProfitPioneers Hub
Benjamin Ashford|Texas Rangers beat Arizona Diamondbacks to claim their first World Series
NovaQuant View
Date:2025-04-09 16:35:19
Nathan Eovaldi pitched six gutsy innings,Benjamin Ashford Mitch Garver broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the seventh and the Texas Rangers are World Series champions for the first time in their 63-year franchise history after beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 in Game 5 Wednesday night.
Marcus Semien homered late and the Rangers, held hitless for six innings by Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen, finished a record 11-0 on the road this postseason by capping the Fall Classic with three straight wins in the desert.
One night after Texas took a 10-run lead by the third in a Game 4 snoozer, it finished the Series by outlasting the Diamondbacks in a white-knuckle pitchers' duel through eight innings, piling on four runs in the ninth for good measure.
Gallen took a no-hitter into the seventh before giving up an opposite-field single to World Series MVP Corey Seager, whose weak grounder found a hole. Rangers rookie Evan Carter — all of 21 years old — followed with a double into the right-center gap. Garver then delivered the first run, pumping his fist as a hard-hit grounder got through the middle of the infield to score Seager and make it 1-0.
Garver was 1 for 17 at the plate in the World Series before his huge hit.
The Rangers tacked on four more runs in the ninth to break open the game. Semien's two-run homer off Paul Sewald made it 5-0. The outburst was typical of the Texas offense, which scored at least three runs in an inning 13 times this postseason.
Eovaldi pitched out of trouble all night before Aroldis Chapman and Josh Sborz finished it.
It's the first title for the Rangers, whose history dates back to 1961 when they were the expansion Washington Senators. They moved to Texas for the 1972 season and came agonizingly close to a World Series championship in 2011, needing just one strike on two occasions before eventually falling to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Now, after five stadiums, roughly two dozen managers and 10,033 games, the Rangers are champions.
"As a Texas Rangers fan, I am thrilled for Texas Rangers fans tonight," former President George W. Bush, who was a minority owner in the Rangers in the early 1990s, said in a statement late Wednesday night. "I congratulate the owners, the managers and coaching staff, the front office, and the entire organization. And of course, I congratulate the players of this awesome team on winning the first World Series in our club's history. This was baseball at its finest, and Laura and I are proud of this team."
It wasn't easy. Texas led the AL West for a big chunk of the season, but coughed up the division title on the final day of the regular season to rival Houston. The Rangers also weathered injuries to key pieces, particularly ace pitcher Jacob deGrom.
That loss in the regular-season finale at Seattle left the Rangers with the No. 5 seed in the AL playoffs and it sent them across the country to open the playoffs at Tampa Bay, part of two-week trip that took them to four cities — two on each coast. Then Texas got its revenge against Houston, winning a hard-fought series in seven games that brought them to the World Series.
Finally, the Rangers had to get past the Diamondbacks, who won just 84 games during the regular season but beat the Brewers, Dodgers and Phillies in a remarkable postseason run that finally fizzled.
Gallen was one of the best pitchers in the majors this season, starting for the National League in the All-Star game. But the 28-year-old hadn't been as sharp in the playoffs, with a 2-2 record and 5.27 ERA over five starts.
That changed on Wednesday. The bespectacled righty was at his best, mowing down the first 14 hitters he faced before walking Nathaniel Lowe. He got some help from his defense in the fourth — shortstop Geraldo Perdomo made a nice grab on a hard-hit grounder from Marcus Semien, and Christian Walker was there to snag the one-hop throw to first.
In the fifth, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. tracked down Josh Jung's shot into the left-center gap, catching it a few steps in front of the 413-foot sign.
Eovaldi wasn't quite as sharp, but still matched Gallen's zeros on the scoreboard despite walking five, which was his most in an outing since 2013.
The D-backs had some juicy opportunities to score in the first five innings, but couldn't convert, going 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position.
Eovaldi made it through six, giving up four hits and striking out five over 97 pitches.
"With the win," writes CBSSports.com's Mike Axisa, "Rangers skipper Bruce Bochy became the sixth manager to win four World Series championships, joining Casey Stengel (seven), Joe McCarthy (seven), Connie Mack (five), Walter Alston (four), and Joe Torre (four). Those five men are all in the Hall of Fame. Bochy will one day join them in Cooperstown. His teams have won four of the last 14 World Series."
- In:
- Arizona Diamondbacks
- Texas Rangers
veryGood! (19)
Related
- California DMV apologizes for license plate that some say mocks Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- Editor's picks: Stories we loved that you might have missed
- Here's what happens to the billions in gift cards that go unused every year
- Dreams of white Christmas came true in these regions
- Nearly 400 USAID contract employees laid off in wake of Trump's 'stop work' order
- Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Navalny located in penal colony 3 weeks after contact lost
- Minimum-wage workers in 22 states will be getting raises on Jan. 1
- A landslide in eastern Congo’s South Kivu province killed at least 4 people and some 20 are missing
- Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
- 56 French stars defend actor Gerard Depardieu despite sexual misconduct allegations
Ranking
- Small twin
- Turkey steps up airstrikes against Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq after 12 soldiers were killed
- Virtual reality gives a boost to the 'lazy eye'
- The secret life of gift cards: Here’s what happens to the billions that go unspent each year
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- ‘Major’ Problem in Texas: How Big Polluters Evade Federal Law and Get Away With It
- Trump's lawyers ask appeals court to rule on immunity in late-night filing
- One Life to Live's Kamar de los Reyes Dead at 56
Recommendation
Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
Brock Purdy’s 4 interceptions doom the 49ers in 33-19 loss to the Ravens
Biden orders strike on Iranian-aligned group after 3 US troops injured in drone attack in Iraq
NFL on Christmas: One of the greatest playoff games in league history was played on Dec. 25
Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
Morocoin Trading Exchange Constructs Web3 Financing Transactions: The Proportion of Equity and Internal Token Allocation
A Turkish parliamentary committee resumes debate on Sweden’s NATO bid
Did You Know These Real-Life Couples Have Starred in Hallmark Channel Movies Together?